EMMA
JANVIER as born Emma Pohlamus Spicer in New York around 1875 to a very
prominent New York family. Her father was John Worthington Spicer. Her
mother, of Mohawk Indian descent, was Nellie Francis Mansfield. The
1880 Census show the family living at 620 Lexington Avenue in New York
City. John Spicer was a "white goods merchant". There were
four older children then living at home, William, 21; Mary, 20; Edith,
14; and Nellie, 11 years of age.

Her father disowned her when she became a chorus girl, saying she
disgraced the family. The Spicers were a prominent merchant family in
New York City and in the Navy and militia of New York in the
post-Revolutionary War years. She borrowed her stage name from an
uncle, Thomas A. Janvier (1849-1913), the author of several books, both
fiction and non-fiction and who wrote columns occasionally for some New
York newspapers. Her aunt, Margaret Thomson Janvier (1844-1913), she
wrote many books for children under the pen name Margaret
Vandergrift.

Emma
Pohlamus Spicer studied opera under a teacher known as Agremonto, whose
identity apparently has been lost to history. She studied at the New
York Conservatory of Music. Emma Spicer had started with the intent of
singing in her Episcopal church choir, but ended up being a chorus
girl in "Lost, Strayed or Stolen". Her next show was a
small part in "The Moth and the
Flame", and then the next bit
part was "the Telephone Girl". She also appeared in
"Papa Gou-Gou" in 1899. In 1901 she made her
Broadway debut with "All on Account of Eliza". Also making his
Broadway debut that night was William
F. Carroll, popularly known as "Irish Billy"
Carroll.

The
next year she went on tour "Lovers'
Lane," and followed that
with a long engagement in "The Ninety and
Nine." In December
of 1904 Emma Janvier returned to Broadway, appearing in "Glad of
It" which ran for a month at the Savoy, and then three subsequent
roles in "Harriet's Honeymoon", "Vivian's Papas ",
and "A Country Mouse."

In
December of 1905 Emma Janvier appeared in a role that put her among
Broadway's leading comediennes of the day, as as
Madame Stitch in "The Mayor of
Tokio". "The Mayor of
Tokio" played all over the country
to large crowds, and the overture was recorded by Vess Ossman, playing
banjo for Columbia Records. There
was even a popular candy-bar called "Sa-Yo" with the picture
of a Japanese maid on the wrapper. She followed that up with another
triumph "The Spring Chicken" which ran from October 1906
through April of 1907. This was followed by another huge success, in George M.
Cohan's "50 Miles From Boston", from whence came the
famous song "Harrigan".
Early recording-star Billy
Murray made the song a standard. Murray's 1907 1907
recording of "Harrigan" was the best-selling song in the
country by September of that year.

Emma
Janvier
married David Bryce
Torrence in 1898, but the two eventually divorced. David
Bryce Torrence was a Scottish stage actor. Both he and his brother, Ernest
Torrence, would head west to Hollywood and make their marks in both
silent and talking pictures. David and Emma were living at 620 West
116th Street in April of 1910, according to Census records.

Shortly
thereafter Emma Janvier met and married Mortimer Fuller Smith,
of Lynn, Massachusetts. His family's business, the Boston Woven Hose and Rubber
Company, had one of the early patents on vulcanizing fire hoses, and was
quite well known at the time. Emma and Mortimer Smith moved to
Connecticut. Leaving the stage behind her, Emma gave birth to identical twins, John Spicer
Smith and Joseph Mortimer Smith in 1911. The twins appeared vaudeville
on several occasions, including some bits with W.C.
Fields, who was a close friend
of hers. A few years later, another son, Newhall Smith was born, sadly
he died when he was 16 of encephalitis.

Emma Janvier
returned to Broadway in the summer of 1915 in
Some
Baby!, and worked in
two productions in the fall of 1915 on the Great White Way, "The
Amber Empress" and "Go
to It."

Emma and Mortimer divorced on
June 27, 1918 in Connecticut. Emma remained in Connecticut. By September
of 1918, when he registered for
the draft, Mortimer Smith had taken up residence in New York City,
where he worked for the Red Cross. He died
during World War I, of mustard gas. The 1920 Census shows Emma (Janvier)
Smith and her children at 19 Stevens Street in Danbury, Connecticut.

1921 saw Emma
Janvier in another Broadway production, "Two Little Girls in
Blue" and 1922 she returned again in "Molly Darling". In
1923 she created her final role, as
Princess
Vronski Mameluke Pasha Tubbs in the Broadway version of Poppy,
which starred W.C.
Fields.

Emma
Janvier died during the production of Poppy, which was the
first stage play at the Apollo
Theater. Her gravestone was
paid for by the cast of Poppy. The family story is that
W.C.
Fields would not have gotten the part in the play, because he wasn't
considered suitable for stage. She intervened on his behalf and
insisted. He was hired, and then went on to recreate that role in
a full length motion picture. As Emma Janvier never appeared in movies,
seeing Catherine Doucet in her role in the
film version of Poppy is probably as close as one can come on video
to one of Emma Janvier's roles.

From
"The Actors Birthday Book"1908

A
DESERVEDLY popular comedienne, one whose fame and reputation
increases with successive seasons, Emma Janvier now occupies a
proud professional position as a feminine fun-maker, such as
very few of her sex can boast. For sheer artistry and subtle
comedy touches, she is nothing short of a wonder, injecting rare
characterization into each of her varied roles, and without
stooping to any coarse or low comedy methods, she can strike a
telling note with an effectiveness that brings an immediate
response from her audience.

Though
her fame is of comparatively recent date, she is by no means a
novice in stage circles, she is not one of the "
flash-in-the-pan " variety, those who have their brief
triumph and then sink into oblivion.

in
1899 at the Casino, and with Herbert Kelcey and
Effie Shannon in "The Moth and the
Flame." It was the
season of 1900-01 that really saw the turning-point in Miss
Janvier's career, she appearing that season as the gossiping
villager, Susie Lennon, in "All on Account of Eliza."
with Louis Mann and Clara Lipman. The next year she appeared on
tour as the schoolmistress, Molly Mealey, in "Lovers'
Lane," after which she spent a season in "The Ninety
and Nine." The two years following this Miss Janvier filled
four very congenial engagements, divided equally between
"Glad of
It." at the Savoy, and with Mary Mannering in
"Harriet's Honeymoon" and with Blanche Ring in "Vivian's Papas " and Edna Wallace Hopper in "A
Country Mouse." Then came Miss Janvier's sweeping triumph
as Madame Stitch in "The Mayor of
Tokio," supporting
Richard Carle, she being at once conceded a leading place among
our principal comediennes, displaying exceptional originality in
her conception of this rôle. She remained with Mr. Carle a
second season, creating Mrs. Girdle in "The Spring Chicken" and all of her previous success was again to the
fore.

The
season of 1907-08. Miss Janvier originated the role of Mrs.
Tilford in "50 Miles From Boston." and her happy
knack of making a faithful portraiture of a gossiping busybody
was clearly illustrated, bringing to the part all the clever,
brainy touches for which the name of Emma Janvier has now become
a synonym. In the summer of 1908 she appeared in Chicago as
leading woman in "The Top o' the World." A remarkably
gifted woman is Miss Janvier, one whose work is ever full of
delightful surprises, she being a much younger and prettier
woman than the type of character roles with which she has become
identified, and it is a keen pleasure to anticipate her
appearance in a new role each season.

New
York TimesOctober 7, 1906

New
York TimesOctober 9, 1906

New
York Times

November 29, 1908

New York TimesAugust 22, 1915

New York TimesSeptember 20, 1916

New
York Times

October 22, 1916

Two Little Girls
In Blue1921

Two
Little Girls in Blue
premiered on May 3, 1921 at the George M. Cohan's Theater. The show
enjoyed moderate success but closed after 135 performances on August 27
of the same year. The show is set aboard a ship at sea, the S.S.
Empress, all three acts take place aboard ship. The cast included
Madeline Fairbanks (1900 - 1989), her twin sister Marion (1900 - 1973),
Emma Janvier and Frederic Santly (1887 - 1953).

"Dolly"
is a duet between two characters, "Bobby" and
"Jerry" played by Oscar Shaw and Fred Santly. and is a
wonderfully melodic and gay (happy, carefree) song. The verse begins
with a lovely slow ballad that sets the stage for a beautiful refrain
that is more upbeat. This song is a great example of Broadway music at
its best. It has a great deal of expressiveness and even a bit of drama.
An interesting side note to this is that the co-lyricist, "Arthur
Francis" was actually Ira Gershwin. One has to wonder why he
resorted to use of a pseudonym? In many cases, such actions were taken
to avoid contract conflicts, perhaps that was his reason.